British Immigration Aides Accused of Bias by Gypsys

At age 23, Richard Samko has spent a lifetime among the disadvantaged in Czech society. His dark skin identifies him as a Gypsy, and he says he has been beaten unconscious by neo-fascist skinheads, refused entry at discos and routinely accused of petty crimes, like stealing ice cream cones.

Mr. Samko, a reporter at Czech Television, said such treatment was the norm for Gypsies, and yet, he said, he was surprised at the way he was treated last week by British immigration officials who, under a diplomatic agreement, set up an office at Prague's international airport in mid-July to try to head off Czechs who might seek asylum in Britain.

The Czechs, eager to gain entry into the European Union, agreed to the unusual arrangement in order to stave off British threats to reimpose a visa requirement after 2,000 Czech Gypsies applied for asylum last year, citing persecution.

Mr. Samko watched as the British immigration officers screened travelers at Prague's airport and concluded that it was largely the darker-skinned Gypsies who were being stopped. So he and a colleague, a non-Gypsy Czech woman, decided to test the system by trying to board a plane for Britain. Their report, which used hidden video cameras, was broadcast in late July and stirred a political storm.

Mr. Samko posed as a waiter going to visit a friend, and the reporters carried nearly identical documents about their plans for a stay in Britain and their salaries. Both had round-trip tickets as proof that they would return to Prague. While Mr. Samko's colleague was allowed through easily, Mr. Samko was taken aside for interrogation.

The television report showed him being intensely questioned by the British immigration officials about the friend he was supposedly visiting in Britain. Eventually, he was refused permission to board his flight on the grounds that he did not have sufficient economic resources in the Czech Republic to draw him back home. He tried again the next day and was again turned down.